Kittens and Jutsus and Lies
by akamai
Summary: “Sasuke-kun...you love cats, don't you?” “...Hn.” SasuSaku.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. But if I could... ;-)

**Kittens and Jutsus and Lies **

Although Sasuke had awakened at five o'clock on the dot, trained, took a walk, and even brooded just like he did daily, he knew something was amiss. And frankly, he didn't like it.

Whatever was off course had made bad timing as well. Sasuke actually had company coming, and although it was no one really important he didn't need to have a nagging feeling about whatever was wrong.

While chewing his breakfast, Sasuke glowered at no one in particular and plotted ways he could have the day to himself instead of being a host. When his visitor came, he _could_ always just tell her to go home. After all, he didn't usually invite people over to the Uchiha Compound, and the one time he actually did he literally forced to. He frowned at the memory of when he was twelve and Kakashi made Naruto and Sakura come over to entertain him all day because he was sick.

With the presence of his unpleasant memory, Sasuke didn't know what he was thinking, inviting Haruno Sakura over. She had offered to help him recover from a bone fracture and he told her he didn't need help recovering. He added that he already had _plenty of medical knowledge thank you very much, _due to living with Kabuto for three lousy years.

Of course, Sakura was surprised by his comment, but she was glad that Sasuke had medical knowledge. She suggested that one day he could maybe teach her some new medical skills. To Sakura's suggestion Sasuke gave an arrogant snort, and without thinking, he invited her over.

Invited her over, when he really had no medical knowledge whatsoever.

Sasuke closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Not only would he have to deal with his lie, he would also have to deal with Sakura constantly asking him what was bothering him.

It was a little after Sasuke had finished eating when he heard soft knocking outside of his door. He stood up from his chair and took his time to answer; hoping Sakura would eventually become tired and decide to leave. She didn't, and before Sasuke had even finished completely opening the door, Sakura was speaking.

"Sorry I'm late Sasuke-kun..." she breathlessly apologized as Sasuke took two medical textbooks from her possession. "I was almost here and I found something..."

Sakura gave Sasuke a grateful smile for taking the books off her hands while Sasuke scrutinized a black bag she was carrying on her shoulder. The bag seemed to move and Sasuke's eyes widened.

"What's in the bag?" he asked Sakura, his tone full of suspicion. He led her to a place to sit and Sakura grinned as they both sat down on a couch. "That's what I was going to show you. My books were in there but…" she lifted up the flap of the bag. "I found this little guy."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as a small kitten's head popped out of the bag. The kitten and Sasuke's eyes met, and Sasuke quickly looked away. The kitten mewed.

"Ah! He seems to like you!" Sakura exclaimed. "That's good."

"Hold on," Sasuke excused himself. Hoping she wouldn't notice his edgy expression, Sasuke made sure he didn't look back at Sakura's questioning face.

He had finally figured out what was wrong. His cat was missing.

And that was his cat.

oOo

When Sasuke had returned to Sakura, it was only after an extremely long internal battle. He constantly reminded himself that the cat wasn't his pet, but a stray he was just taking care of. Besides, cats were common on the Uchiha compound as far back as he could remember. He could always tend to another one. Sakura didn't really need to know the animal was familiar with him.

Fortunately for Sasuke, Sakura was already flipping through one of her books when he rejoined her.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I'm fine. I...just don't like cats."

"Oh. All right." Sakura smiled, and Sasuke presumed she was trying to cover up a dejected expression. "No offense Sasuke-kun," she continued, veering away from the previous subject, "but I never would have taken you for someone who was interested in medical knowledge. Um…what all did Kabuto teach you?"

Sasuke looked blankly at Sakura and his brow furrowed as he tried to think of _something_to tell her. When he finally opened his mouth, the kitten leaped into his lap.

Sakura quickly brought her hand mouth to her mouth to stifle a laugh, and then proceeded to pick the kitten up. "Sorry about that...I noticed Takeo's very active around you."

_Takeo_? Hitomi was a girl!

"Hn," he merely responded.

"So what did you learn?" Sakura asked again, putting Hitomi back into the bag. The kitten's head was visible and two small, yellow eyes gazed at Sasuke.

Sasuke flinched. He waned to kick himself for ignoring whatever Kabuto did when he healed him and Orochimaru. He never really believed that whatever Kabuto said or did was important. As if a light bulb came on, Sasuke glanced down at Sakura's open textbook.

"I learned that." He pointed to the information on the book's page.

"_That?"_ Sakura questioned. "I've just started studying it with the Godaime." She looked skeptical.

Sasuke shrugged. It was another way of saying, 'I'm an Uchiha...of course I know this jutsu before _you_ do.'

Hitomi leaped out of the bag and crawled into Sasuke's lap once more. She purred and stood on her hind paws to rub her nose against Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke scowled and tried to brush the cat away. Could the kitten make their relationship anymore obvious?

Sakura watched intently as Sasuke picked up the kitten and set her next to him. Hitomi obediently stayed beside him and gave herself a bath.

"You're really good with Takeo," Sakura commented as she shut her book. Although he would have to deal with the cat situation, Sasuke was glad she wasn't talking about any medical jutsus anymore.

"It's just a cat," Sasuke told her, adding fuel to the fire. "It shouldn't be so hard to control one." He glanced at Sakura's crestfallen expression and subsequently attempted to mend his statement.

"There has...always been cats around this area," he informed her. "So I'm familiar with them."

"Are there a lot?"

Sasuke nodded. "Strays."

"So you've probably had a pet cat before?" Sakura whispered.

"No." Sasuke glowered at her.

"Oh yeah…I remember you said you didn't like cats."

"My parents liked cats," Sasuke admitted. "Actually it was mostly my mother. So she would feed them."

Sakura raised her eyebrow. She didn't expect to hear that much information.

"I do the same thing sometimes," Sasuke continued. "They're not my pets, but they find ways into the house and beg for food."

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura started, smirking. "Takeo's a stray you've taken care of, isn't he?"

"Tch." Sasuke looked away.

"I mean...I'm sorry to assume...but I _did_ find him near here."

"I've seen her around."

"It's a girl?" Sakura asked, trying to take a peek beneath the kitten and quickly looking away, blushing. "I never really checked to see if there was anything or not..."

They both stared at each other, and Sasuke cleared his throat. Sakura quietly reclaimed Hitomi and played with her.

"So..." she said, breaking the silence. "Why did you actually invite me over?" Sakura scratched Hitomi's chin, as if to make it look like the kitten was wondering the same thing. "I didn't think you'd actually let me in here..."

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "You're my comrade. We should share information and teach each other new things."

Obviously not convinced by his answer, Sakura merely glanced at him. She chose to say nothing; that was always best. Sakura looked down and noticed that her leg gave Sasuke's a slight brush. Flushing and hoping that he didn't think she was trying to flirt with him, she quickly pulled her leg back. She loved Sasuke, but she knew he wouldn't like it if she seemed to be pressing on him.

Feeling Sakura jerk back, Sasuke took his attention from the kitten and looked at his teammate. She was easily amused, really. Sakura smiled at every little thing Hitomi did, even if it was something like excessive scratching. Sakura was really easy to read, to Sasuke at least, so he knew when she was genuinely happy and having fun.

Although she was playing with the kitten like a child, Sasuke had finally noticed that Sakura had really grown. Every time he was with her since he returned to Konoha, someone else was always present. Someone else had always occupied his attention. And now, he realized she wasn't that annoying and she wasn't calling his name, _all the time_. She had shrunk, but she and to have more of a…a _figure._ Sakura was still very emotional, but Sasuke did not mind because he sort of always liked that about her. In a strange way, he always thought she always looked prettier when she showed intense emotion.

Sasuke blinked back into reality, quite disgusted at his wandering thoughts. He briskly stood up from the couch and muttered something about, 'getting something to eat.'

When Sasuke returned, with the last bit of tomato in hand of course, Sakura was in the process of standing up herself. Without thinking, Sakura picked up Hitomi and put her in the bag. She then bit her lip and ushered the cat out of the bag.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked after seeing her gesture.

"I forgot…she's your—"

Sasuke put up a hand and cut her off. "Keep it."

Sakura could hardly hide the delight in her expression. "…really?"

As soon as her teammate began to nod Sakura was already hugging him. Sasuke looked apprehensive, not because he didn't like it, but because he hadn't gotten hugged by her in a long time. "Yeah..." he said, awkwardly putting one arm around her. "…really."

Naturally, Sasuke was the first to end the embrace and gave her a stern look. It reminded Sakura of the way her father looked when he was lecturing her. "She likes tomatoes," Sasuke informed her. "And fish. None of that junk from the market."

"Okay," Sakura said, stifling a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke inquired. He really didn't like to be laughed at.

"You!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's just…cute (Sasuke flinched. He never liked that word) that you care for a kitten so much. I mean, do you even care for people that much?"

Sasuke's expression was thoughtful, and Sakura gasped and smacked her forehead. She had probably made him think about his deceased family again! Why did she always unintentionally stir the conversation back to his family?

"Sorry," she hurriedly apologized. "I didn't mean it in that way. I know you loved them and—"

Annoyed by her outburst, Sasuke abruptly placed his hands on his shoulders and glared at her. Sakura hushed and widened her eyes.

"You don't know what you're talking about…do you?"

Sakura slowly shook her head and gave a sheepish laugh. "I don't…do I?"

His face softened and Sakura took a deep breath. Maybe she wasn't in trouble after all. Sasuke gave his teammate an intense stare and she felt butterflies make their presence known in her stomach. What on earth was he getting at?

"You..." he started, "…and...Naruto...and Kakashi are more important than a cat. Don't be foolish."

Gaping, Sakura slowly nodded and blushed at her misconception. Hoping Sasuke wouldn't witness how badly she reacted to her mistake, Sakura picked Hitomi back up and allowed the kitten to crawl on her shoulder. She halted stroking the kitten when she felt Sasuke brush his hand against her cheek and subsequently remove the cat out of the way. Her eyes widened at Sasuke's nonchalant expression and she found herself leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. Before she was an inch away, Sasuke stopped her as he moved his hands to the sides of her face, gave a small smirk, and tentatively kissed her on the lips.

Sakura felt her heartbeat become rapid as she deepened the kiss. There was no way she'd be able to hide her blush now! Sasuke's hands grasped her hair and he moved lose strands behind her ear so they wouldn't be in the way. He felt Sakura smile; her hair _was_ a mess when she came.

Sasuke was the one to break off first, and he removed his hands from Sakura's face. Wanting to wipe off his sweaty palms, he let his hands fall limply to his sides. Hitomi wasted no time to lick the back of Sasuke's tomato smelling hands.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura started, "…you love cats, don't you?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, a sign of resignation. "Hn."

She smiled, biting her lip. "And…you don't really know anything about medical ninjutsu or genjutsu...do you?"

Sasuke pretended not to hear her, but Sakura could see a smirk forming on his face. "She can belong to both of us," he suggested, while gesturing towards the kitten. Sakura beamed; she figured he would eventually change his mind.

Besides, if Uchiha Sasuke wasn't willing to let his kitten go, there would be no way he'd be willing to let his Sakura go anytime soon.

* * *

**A/N:** Aw, I love kitties too, Sasuke...and Sakura! Like it? Please review then, because those things really make my day. :)


End file.
